The Justice Department released a slice of its massive files on the convicted sexual offender Jeffrey Epstein on Friday, a much-anticipated disclosure that revealed new details about the government’s investigation into Epstein’s sex crimes and opulent life.
The more than 100,000 pages released included few documents related to President Donald Trump, although mentions of the president were expected among files that Congress had required the government to release by Friday. DOJ said it will continue to release documents in coming weeks, angering critics who have demanded a speedier process and fewer deletions of photos, videos, court records and more.
The government continued to release new files since the initial dump Friday afternoon. Overnight, the Justice Department posted records, including grand jury testimony and an interview with Alex Acosta, who as U.S. Attorney in Miami oversaw the lenient plea deal Epstein received in 2008.
U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the department is working “tirelessly” to provide documents while protecting victims’ identities.
“We are looking at every single piece of paper that we are going to produce, making sure that every victim, their name, their identity, their story, to the extent it needs to be protected, is completely protected,” Blanche told Fox News.
Here are four takeaways from what has been released so far:
Trump is not mentioned in many records
A major question looming over the Epstein case has been whether Trump had any awareness of Epstein’s crimes. The president has said he did not know about criminal behavior and his spokesperson has said he kicked Epstein out of his Mar-a-Lago Club for being “a creep.”
Friday’s disclosures don’t mention the president often.
Trump’s name appears in victim interviews where investigators and attorneys bring up his friendship with Epstein, but no victim in the files accuses Trump of wrongdoing. Much of the material released has been previously disclosed, including a 2010 deposition in which Epstein declined to answer a question, citing his Fifth Amendment rights, when asked about socializing with Trump in the presence of underage girls.
Friday’s materials include several photos and other documents that mention Trump. There is a photo of a check signed with his name, which appears similar to a check in a previously released book for Epstein’s birthday. Trump’s “The Art of the Comeback” is on Epstein’s bookshelf in another picture. A flight log shows Trump traveling with Epstein and his son Eric.
Former president Bill Clinton is depicted in several photos, including one where he is swimming with Epstein’s accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell and another woman.
Clinton’s spokesman Angel Ureña suggested that the White House had engineered the release of the photos to shield Trump.
“They can release as many grainy 20-plus-year-old photos as they want, but this isn’t about Bill Clinton,” he said. “Never has, never will be.”
Epstein had many celebrities in his orbit
Over the years, Epstein’s associations with major figures in business, politics and Hollywood have been a big part of the narrative about him.
Friday’s release includes photos showing Epstein and Maxwell posing with celebrities, including a sunglass-wearing Michael Jackson, who died in 2009.
These records didn’t implicate the celebrities in any wrongdoing. They vividly illustrate Epstein’s social access to high-profile figures. Many of Epstein’s star-studded associations were previously known.
Last week, the Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released a batch of photos from a separate group of documents provided by Epstein’s estate. Those included photos of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, filmmaker Woody Allen and conservative media figure Stephen K. Bannon.
Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 in Florida to state charges of soliciting prostitution from a minor. In 2019, he was arrested by federal authorities and charged with sex trafficking. He died in federal custody that year, before his case could go to trial. His death was ruled a suicide. Blanche said Friday in a letter to Congress that the Justice Department had compiled the names of 1,200 people who were either victims of Epstein or relatives of victims.
Many documents are redacted or not new
Many documents are entirely covered with black or have rows of information blocked out.
There are also pages and pages of scans of CDs, blank file covers and other records without much information about what they contain. Many of the redactions clearly cover personal information from victims’ statements, investigative records and Epstein’s personal documents.
Under the law, the administration is authorized to redact information to protect victims, withhold any images of child abuse and block the release of documents that are classified or would jeopardize current federal law enforcement efforts.
The redactions have been widely criticized by Democrats and those seeking more disclosures.
Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-New York) said in a statement that “this set of heavily redacted documents released by the Department of Justice today is just a fraction of the whole body of evidence.”
Reps. Ro Khanna (D-California) and Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky), who had led the effort in Congress to demand the document release, demanded full disclosure of the records.
“Attorney General Pam Bondi is withholding specific documents that the law required her to release by today,” Massie said.
There is more to come
Blanche told Fox that he expects “several hundred thousand more” records to be released by the government “in the next couple of weeks.”
The Justice Department has not shared what records are still remaining and when they will be released.
Khanna told NPR that he found the release unsatisfactory and expects the agency to release the draft indictment in Epstein’s first case, more witness interviews and other records.
“Overall, I’ve been pretty disappointed with the release,” he said.
Mark Berman, Jeremy Roebuck, Perry Stein, Beth Reinhard, Aaron Schaffer, Victoria Bisset, Mariana Alfaro, Matthew Choi, Shayna Jacobs, Evan Hill, Alec Dent, Maegan Vazquez, Amy Brittain, Brianna Tucker, Derek Hawkins, Jonathan O’Connell, Matt Viser, Richard Sima, Daranee Balachandar, Ben Brasch, Azi Paybarah and Sarah Blaskey contributed to this report.
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